Minimum Supported Versions of the Firmware, OS, and Software (SPARC M7)

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You must install the latest available and supported versions of the system firmware, OS, and patches for optimal performance, security, and stability.

Oracle Solaris 11 is the recommended OS for the SPARC M7 servers. Oracle Solaris 11 provides simplified installation and maintenance, enhanced virtualization capabilities, and performance improvements. A more detailed list of Oracle Solaris 11 advantages is available at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/solaris11/overview/solaris-matrix-1549264.html.

Note - If you configure the server with Oracle VM Server for SPARC, you can install various combinations of OS versions. For example, you must run Oracle Solaris 11.3 in the control domain, but you can run Oracle Solaris 11.3, Oracle Solaris 10 1/13, Oracle Solaris 10 8/11, or Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 in a guest domain.

Note - By default, the Oracle Solaris OS AI server installer selects the first drive it finds as the boot disk and installs the OS on it. Since the SPARC M7 servers do not include integrated drives, the installation might fail or the installer might install the OS on the first drive of an external storage device, even if that first drive is not appropriate for your environment. To ensure that the OS is installed on the correct drive, always specify the target drive in the AI manifest file. For instructions, refer to Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems in the Oracle Solaris documentation and the ai_manifest(4) man page.

Software	Minimum Supported Versions
Sun System Firmware	9.5.2.g for the M7 servers, includes Oracle ILOM 3.2.5.8. Note - For the M7 servers, the latest firmware release is 9.8.0.c.
Oracle Solaris 11	Oracle Solaris 11.3 SRU2. For the control domain, guest domains, and nonvirtualized configurations. Includes these software components: Oracle VM Server for SPARC. Oracle VTS. Also see Mandatory Oracle Solaris 11 OS Package Updates (SPARC M7).
Oracle Solaris 10	Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 or Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 OS, plus Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 SPARC Bundle and patches. For virtual guest domains only. Oracle Solaris 10 OS includes Oracle VTS 7 PS15. Also see Mandatory Oracle Solaris 10 OS Patches and Packages (SPARC M7).
Java SE Development Kit	Java applications running on this product require one of these minimum JDK versions: JDK 11 or higher JDK 1.8.0_60 b27 or higher JDK 1.7.0_85 b33 or higher For production use, Oracle recommends using the latest available JDK and JRE versions, and does not recommend using JDK versions that are no longer updated and are in sustaining support. For details, refer to https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/index.html For information about running older versions of the JDK on SPARC servers, refer to Doc ID 2564392.1 on My Oracle Support.
Oracle Database Enterprise Edition	12.1.0.2.13 (October 2015), plus required patch 21744410. Required on Oracle Solaris 11.3 for in-memory features.

Note - Some PCIe cards and devices have other minimum requirements. For details, including what is required for a device to be bootable, refer to the product notes and other documentation for that device.

Note - Your server might require more recent firmware for using Oracle Solaris kernel zones. Refer to Hardware and Software Requirements for Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones.